Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 4.pdf/185

 Leggy, adj. (colloquial).—Long-legged.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. x. You behold Slapper's long-tailed, leggy mare.

1884. Field, Dec. 6. Her colour and markings are capital, in expression and style fair, but she is leggy and light in bone.

Legitimate, adj. (racing).—1. Flat-racing as distinguished from steeplechasing or hurdle-racing; and (2) drama—especially the Shaksperean—as opposed to burlesque.

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. It was certainly a change from the bustle and excitement connected with the winding-up of the legitimate season.

Leglin-girth. To cast a leglingirth, verb. phr. (Scots').—To be got with child. [Leglin = milkpail + girth = hoop].

d.1758. Ramsay, Poems (1800), i. 274. Or bairns can read, they first maun spell, I learn'd this frae my mammy, And coost A leglen girth mysel, Lang or I married Tammie.

Leg of mutton, subs. phr. (common).—A sheep's trotter.

Adj. (common).—Leg-of-mutton shaped; as in the case of sleeves, whiskers, sails, etc.

1866 W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, xx. With their honest, heavy faces comically anglicised by leg-of-mutton whiskers.

Leg of mutton fist. See Mutton fist.

Leg of the Law, subs. phr. (common).—A lawyer. Also limb of the law.

Legs-and-arms, subs. (tailors').—Bodiless beer. For synonyms see Drinks and Swipes.

Leg-shaker, subs. (common).—A dancer. Fr. un gambilleur.

Legshire, subs. (common).—The Isle of Man. [In allusion to the heraldic bearings].

Leg-shop, subs. (common).—1. A theatre whose speciality is the display of the female form. Hence, leg-piece = a play contrived to that end; leg-business = the condition of a woman whose chief work is to show her legs; and leg-show = the personnel of a leg-shop in action.

1871. A. E. Edwards, Ought We to Visit Her, p. . 'She was,' says Adonis, 'in the leg business.'

1875. Clemens ('Mark Twain'), Screamers, p. 15. 'Nothing, sir,' was the reply; 'only they're playing 'Undine' at the Opera House, and some folks call it the leg-shop.'

1882. McCabe, New York, 206. They are liberal patrons of the drama, especially the ballet and the leg-business.

Leg-stretcher, subs. (American).—A drink: i.e., an inducement or a pretext for going out. See To stretch one's legs. For synonyms see Go.

Lemon. To squeeze the lemon, verb. phr. (common).—To urinate. For synonyms see Piss.

Lemon jolly. See Colly Molly.

Lend, subs. (old colloquial).—A loan: e.g. 'For the lend of the ass you might give me the mill' (Old Ballad).

Length, subs. (thieves').—1. Six months' imprisonment. For synonyms see Dose.